el2995's travel reports

A Quick Bite into the Big Apple

A brief stay in New York City proved to be a double-edged sword. It was interesting and enjoyable to walk the crowded sidewalks from the UN building to Times Square amid the tall buildings on a chilly November evening and feel the pulse of the city despite the numbness invoked by a biting wind, to have to stop and ask for directions to the Midtown Tunnel from a sultry Latina hooker dressed only in black bra, panties, fishnets and 4-inch heels at 6 in the morning, to experience a ride on a crowded subway bound for Queens, and see some of the UN building that most tourist will never see...that was the pretty edge of the sword. The chipped and rusty backside of the blade was getting my Calling Card number and access code lifted in Grand Central Station and having a Grand in fraudulent overseas calls charged to me.

Favourite spots:

The UN building was quite interesting, particular because I was able to get a special pass and was even able to go down to the floor of the General Assembly and see some of the out of the public's view gifts from foreign nations. I was a bit put off by the large metal sculpture out front of a Colt Python .357 Magnum with an exceedingly long barrel twisted like a pretzel to convey the official Party Line on armed private citizens, and the display of a perfectly good Kalashnikov AKM with it's receiver cut in half; it offended my sensibilities as an avid shooter.

What's really great:

I especially enjoyed the time spent in Chinatown and the good dim sum that we were able to enjoy even in the evening (most places stop serving by about three in the afternoon); a close second would be the brief conversation with the Latina hooker in the fishnets (and I had to leave the camera back in the car...)

Accommodations:

Harbor Inn, Queens was where we stayed.

Restaurants:

The Mandarin Goumet Restaurant in Chinatown on Mott Street had a good assortment of dim sum; unfortunately, by the time we got served and finished our meal, we had to run full-out to Grand Central Station to just barely catch our train back down to Washington DC, which pretty much worked off my hargow, shiu mai, char siu bao and har chow fun.